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Tim BontempsESPN
Brooklyn Nets star striker Kevin Durant will be out until after the All-Star break due to a left hamstring sprain he suffered earlier this month, the team announced on Friday.
After a follow-up MRI scan, the Nets determined that Durant “will require an additional recovery period” that will keep him out of the All-Star range. which includes next month’s All-Star Game in Atlanta.
“While we are confident that Durant will return at full strength, this extra recovery time will allow him to reach the level he has been playing this season once he returns,” the Nets said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Nets coach Steve Nash said he expected Durant to return before the All-Star break.
“We are just trying to monitor and be cautious,” said Nash before the Nets beat the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. “We definitely slow things down in that respect: we don’t put any pressure on him, we don’t try to rush him in any way and we just make sure we give him the right time to be more than healed, to be strong and conditioned to go back to the team. “
It was not clear whether Durant, who was named captain of the All-Star Game, would remain in charge of selecting players for one of the teams, despite not participating in the game. This is the first time that one of the captains has been unable to play since the league changed its East-West format to two captains choosing their respective teams.
Durant lost nine of Brooklyn’s last 10 games – three because of NBA health and safety protocols, after being pulled in the middle of Brooklyn’s defeat to the Toronto Raptors on February 5 due to tracking contact with someone who had a positive test, and then in the last six games, after suffering a hamstring injury against the Golden State Warriors, in a February 13 victory.
The Nets have won eight consecutive games – the longest winning streak in the NBA – and will face the Dallas Mavericks at ABC in Brooklyn on Saturday night.
After playing against Dallas, the Nets have two more games before the break: in San Antonio, against Spurs, on March 1, and in Houston, against James Harden’s old team, Rockets, on March 3.
Durant, 32, has an average of 29 points, 5.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game this season.